The present invention relates to an absorbent composite panel and, more particularly, to an absorbent composite panel to be laid on a urination or evacuation tray and the like used to breed pet animals such as cats and dogs.
Conventional absorbent composite panels for pet animals generally comprise a liquid-permeable sheet, a liquid-impermeable sheet and a liquid-absorbent core disposed between these two sheets, as disclosed, for example, in the Japanese Utility Model Application publication No. Hei 4-673.
With the known absorbent composite panel, even when the composite panel is only partially smeared with urine, the composite panel must be entirely exchanged with a new one in order to keep a breeding environment clear. Thus, a pet owner is uneconomically burdened with a considerable cost. If the portion of the composite panel smeared with urine is cut off and thrown away, a part of the liquid-absorbent core will run out through the cut opening and the absorbent composite panel will no longer be effective for its proper purpose. Furthermore, absorbent composite panel often fails to prevent a partial quantity of urine from overflowing beyond the periphery of the composite panel when the quantity a urination expelled at one time is relatively large or when urination takes place adjacent the periphery of the composite panel.
In view of such inconveniences unsolved by the prior art, it is a principal object of the invention to solve these inconveniences by forming a liquid-absorbent core from a plurality of core elements intermittently arranged independently of one another.